Device for restricting movement of an animal&#39;s neck and head



March 1a, 1943. F. W I 2,313,833

DEVICE- FOR RESTRICTING MOVEMENT OF AN ANIMALS N ECK AND HEAD Filed NOV.10, 1941 [km 62111424457; INVENTFOR BYW ' ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 16,1943 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE DEVICE FORRES' IRICTING MOVEMENT OF ANANIMALS NECKAND HEAD 3 l Fred C. Mai-met, Canoga Park, Calif. IApplication November 10, 1941, Serial No. 418,556

Cl aims. (01. 119-96) This invention relates to devices for limiting themovement of the neck. and; head of horses and the like, to prevent theanimal from reaching certain parts of the. body with the teeth.

When horses are treated for various disorders of the legs by the processcommonly known as firing, the treatment sets up an irritation and causesthe animal to bite the afflicted areas which results in infection andits attendant complications. Accordingly it has been the practice in thepast to provide various makeshift devices to prevent the horse fromreaching the aii'ected areas with his teeth. A common type of device nowin use consists of a series of straight rigid rods or sticks extendinglengthwise of thehorses neck and attached near their ends to a pair ofstraps fastened about the horses neck, one strap being near the base ofthe neck and the other near the head. Such devices are dangerous to thewelfare of the animal, because the horse often catches the lower ends ofsome of the sticks over the edge of a lower stable door and in backingaway from the stable door causes the sticks to travel upwardly and catchhim in the throat. Although these devices limit the downward movement ofthe. animals neck, they do not prevent movement of the head and areaccordinglyrather inefiective for the purpose desired. Additionally,the'horse soon finds thatby striking certain types of restrainersagainst the lower stable door and bending them, he can reach his legsand bite the areas under treatment. All oi the previous devices eithersufier the disadvantage that they do not completely prevent the horsefrom reaching his legs or else they are dangerous to the horse as hemoves around, lies down, rolls over, or indulges in other activitiescommon to horses.

Accordingly it becomes an object ofthe present invention to provide adevice for restraining a horse from biting its legs and which will notendanger the animal during use. i p

It is a furtherobject of the present invention to provide a cradle forrestraining a horse irombiting its legs which will not unduly restricthim from other activities.

,It is. a furtherobject of the present invention I to provide a deviceof the character described which can be adjusted to fit difierenthorses.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device ofthe character described which cannot be distorted by the horse.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device ofthe'character described which is light in weight, simple in characterand free of projections.

of the animal to which it is applied.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other objectswhich may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of oneembodiment of the invention. For this purpose thereis, shown a forminthe drawing accompanying and forming part of the present specification.This form will now be described in detail, illustrating the generalprinciples of the invention; but it is to be understood that thisdetailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since thescope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of a device embodying the present inventionapplied to a horse; and

Figure 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the device of Figure 1 jp The device shown comprises a collar l0, consisting of agenerallyU-shaped member of a size and shape to rest upon the front of'theshoulders of a horse in the position normally occupied by a collar.Extending therefrom lengthwise of the horsesneck are two side members II and a bottom member 12 which are secured to a second U-shaped memberl3. Thelower member [2 is bent in the manner shown, so that a portionextends upwardly adjacent the horses neck and another portion extendsbeneath the animal's jaw. The memberlZ is sufficiently rigid to resistbending by the horse as it moves its head and neck, but is capable ofbeing bent by the person apply ing it before placement on the horse, soas to accommodate it properly to the neck and head The U-shaped memberI3 is shaped to pass partially around the horses head, and is spacedtherefrom sufiiciently to prevent the his head on it. i U a The entiredevice is supported on thehorses neck by means of two straps I4 and [5,one of which issecured to loops 16 at the ends of the U-shaped collarIll and forms with it a complete collar which fits against the horsesshoulders as in the case of an ordinary collar. The strap I5 is securedto themembers H intermediate their length and thus passes over thehorses neck between his head and shoulders.

In order to secure the horses head within the device and also to providesome degree of support for the forward end of the cradle, a pair of snaphooks l6 are secured to eyes at the upper ends of the U-shaped memberI3, and it will be noted from Figure 1 that the U-shaped member and thesnaprhooks are so arranged that the snap hooks can be secured to theupperhalter animal from injuring i2 and to the member ID for similarstrengthening purposes.

With the cradle in place on the horse, it can be seen that the horse isnot restricted so far as lowering his head and neck is concerned so hecan reach the ground if he so desires. At the same time, however, thecradle prevents him from bending his neck sideways in order to reach hislegs. The horse is not unduly limited in moving his head sideways as thedevice is light and can be moved as a whole; however, he cannot bend hisneck sideways to any great extent. Most important, however, is the factthat the horse can lower his head to reach the ground in front of him,but once his head and neck are in this position he cannot reach back tohis legs. If he attempts to do so the U-sh'aped member I3 and the snaphooks cooperate to prevent such movement. Thus the horse is notprevented from making any movement except one which would permit him toreach his legs. It will be noted that the collar Ii] rests upon thehorse in the position usually occupied by a collar. The horse cannottherefore catch the member if) on the lower stable door or the webbingfence stretched across the lower part of his stall. Even if he shouldcatch this portion of the device on some solid object and pullrearwardly, the device would not injure him because the U-shaped memberl3 a horse very slightly, but positively prevents him from doing himselfan injury while his legs are being given any of the various treatmentsnecessary for his Welfare.

I claim:

1. A device for preventing a horse from reaching its legs comprising, aU-shaped member engageable with the front of the shoulders and breast ofthe horse, a second U-shaped member having portions engageable with thesides of the animals head forward of its throat and a portion engageableunder the jaw of the horse forwardly of its throat, whereby to limit theability of the horse to move its head both in a turning and noddingdirection with respect to its neck, and means connecting said U-shapedmembers.

2. A device for preventing a horse from reach- '1 ing its legscomprising, a U-shaped frame memwould merely cause him to lift his head.In

addition to this, it will be noted that the member 42 permits the horseto put his head out of the stable door, and if he lowers his head inthisposition he will not bend the device but of shape It will be notedthatthe hooks l8 and the strap 20 secure the device to the horses head,cooperating to prevent the horse from moving his head or his neck in adownward direction by virtue of their engagement with the halter. Thedevice from one side to another on his back, because it is kept centeredby the strap 20 and hooks 18.

Thus it is seen that there has been provided a device which limits thefreedom of movement of her adapted to engage the breast and shoulders ofthe horse, a second U-sh'aped member having portions engageable with thesides of the horses head forward at i-ts'throat and a portion engageableunder its jaw forward of its throat, and means connecting said U-shapedmembers and preventing relativemovement therebetween upon movement ofthe horse.

3. A device for preventing a horse from reach ing its legs comprising, aU-shaped member and a strap member engageable with the horses body inthe position of a collar, a U-shaped member adapted to "extend on eachside of the horses head and under its jaw in front of its throat, meansadapted to connect the latter U-sh-aped member to a halter, and a memberconnecting the lower portions of said U-shaped members, said connectingmember being curved to conform with the. neck and jaw line of the horse.

l. A device for preventing a horse from reaching its legs corn-prising,a U-shaped member and a strap member engageable with'the horses body inthe position ofa collar, a U-shaped member adapted to extend on eachside of the horses head and under its jaw in front of its throat, meansadapted to connect the latter U-shaped member to upper and lower halterrings, a conne'cting member extending between the bottoms of theU-shaped members, said member being curved to conform with the neck andjaw line of the horse, and a pair of connecting members connecting theends of the U-shaped members to each other, said members adapted toextend and a connecting member extending between the bottoms of theU-shaped members, said connecting member being of bendable materialbutof sufficient rigidity to resist bending by the horse, whereby the horseis prevented from bending its head sufficiently to reach its legs.

C. IVIARMET.

